Review: Cynical Existence – 'Dying Light'

CYNICAL EXISTENCE
'Dying Light'
ADVOXYA RECORDS

The evolution of Cynical Existence continues on their latest full-length studio album, 'Dying Light'. Taking their aggrotech / harsh ebm core and augmenting it with metal guitars, synthpop melodies and clean vocals the band offer-up a more diverse take on their core sound that see's them switch between steady dance-orientated electronics to all-out electro-metal assaults.

Songs such as 'Utopia Burning', 'Through My Eyes', 'Thank You', 'As The World Stops', 'Hate By Design', and 'End Of The Line' cover the more metallic side of the band's sound with a blend of scathing guitars, hard beats and vicious vocals. While the likes of 'Edge Of Sanity', 'Fuck Your Crew' , 'Wasteful Scum' , 'I', and 'We Will Burn' push the emphasis back onto the electronics and opt for more dance-orientated delivery.

The three remixes – courtesy of Freaky Mind, Iron Clad, and Cutoff Sky – take the core of the tracks to their logical extremes with Freaky Mind adding a bigger club feel to 'Fuck Your Crew', while Iron Clad dial up the metal for 'Through My Eyes, and Cutoff Sky go back to the harsh ebm roots of Cynical Existence's sound.

Production-wise the album, despite it's many metal embellishments, keeps a strong dance appeal throughout with plenty of emphasis on the dance beats and melodic leads to keep things nice and catchy. There are odd points in the mix where the guitars could have been brought more to the front of the track for a more “guns blazing” attack, but overall they compliment the band's sound really well.

For those unsure of the band taking a more metal-infused direction, there are still plenty of hints of their earlier sound within this album. But as the band's palette grows so does the scope and ambition of their song-writing. The result is a fresh and enjoyable listening experience that acknowledges past strengths while playing with new ideas. 'Dying Light' could be a stepping stone to take Cynical Existence's sound in some very interesting and heavy directions.  

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